Tornament experience - Excuses!

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Hi!

It's me again, the guy who's having difficulty playing in competition. However, this time we'll talk more about excuses you use when you lose or even when you win.

Funny is that atmosphere amongst the players in tournaments. Most of the time people use various excuses like "I don't really play that much" even before the match begins to justify the possible loss. I've heard some of the most incredible excuses from various losers. Things like:

- I haven't picked up a cue in a month
- I didn't call a foul on you when you touched the cue ball with your shirt - that's why I lost (that was my favourite)
- the tables are too fast (common)
- I've never played here, and don't like the pockets (very common)
- my cue is messed up
- the chalk wasn't dry
- my tip isn't a Moori
- I was partying all night long on Valentine's day (tournament was the day after)

Those people should really be ashamed of themselves. I was at my first real 9ball tournament...so far I've only played a few league matches.

And my excuse? Well I lost in first round 5:4 too a pretty good player after being 4:1 down. I scratched on the break in the final game...4 balls dropped in together with the cueball which was pushed by another ball...DAMN! With ball in hand, the other guy ran five last easy balls. Can I use that unlucky last break as an excuse? Or was the real reason for my loss that miss of a sitting duck 9ball in the opening game and in the game after? I shouldn't have let the first 2 games slip away...I wasn't unlucky there...No excuse for me actually, simply beaten by a better man!

All in all a good experience even though I lost...

Now share your experiences/excuses...

Alex
 
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Hi Alex. I like your attitude. Pool players are such whiners. Excuses for everything! They cry about the handicap. They cry about the cloth. Waaa waaa waaa! These people beat themselves before the match even starts.

Glad you're a winner, not a whiner.

But I wouldn't say you were beaten by a better man. You don't play another person. You play the table. So, you were beaten by yourself. The only thing limiting you from a victory in every case, is yourself. Well...unless you play someone who runs every rack from start to finish....in which case you must have lost the lag, so go practice that! :)

cheers,
jer9ball
 
Don...what about the guy who misses, but misses good? Or how about making mistakes, but adjusting your plan on-the-fly to deal with them? I'm not sure that the one who makes the least mistakes wins. That may often be true, but I don't think it is a universal truth. I've had matches where I've missed two shots in the whole match, and still got crushed. Also had matches where I've missed several times, and won. The balls roll funny sometimes.

cheers,
jer9ball
 
Missing Good is half of my game. I know I am not gonna run a rack, unless its just a really easy run, but I always know when I miss, where to leave the cue ball for a good shot on the next and a bad shot on the miss. 90% of the time its a concious effort, the other 10% I lose. But I don't play much 9-ball anyway.
 
Hey Alex. Don't get depressed if you get a bad roll. In the long run, all the players get about the same number of bad rolls. Next time it might be you running the last 5 easy balls with a ball-in-hand at hill-hill! Many people don't realize that pool is actually a game of pure statistics. Nothing is 100% certain in this game. Too bad players usually notice their opponents' lucky shots, not their own. It's the common mentality: "I deserve all the good rolls, and my opponents deserves none!". You can make a difference by learning to shoot the kind of shots that don't give any possibility for a bad roll.
 
jer9ball said:
But I wouldn't say you were beaten by a better man. You don't play another person. You play the table. So, you were beaten by yourself. The only thing limiting you from a victory in every case, is yourself. Well...unless you play someone who runs every rack from start to finish....in which case you must have lost the lag, so go practice that! :)

cheers,
jer9ball
Click to expand...

I've always disagreed with this philosiphy
Not to say it's wrong, but I think you play the man
Ex. The table didn't serve up the doughnut to Basavich at Glass City. Archer did.
 
BazookaJoe: Yeah, you're probably right. Ideally, there isn't any mental warefare going on in a match...but in reality, it is always there. I guess you could say that my goal is to take the opponent out of the picture, and just play the table. Its a goal, but no necessarily an every-day reality.
 
It's the mental warfare that I love so very much. Sometimes I shoot for the hook when I have a shot. I get the most priceless reactions when I do that. :D
 
Heres another excuse.. Someone walked in front of my shot or your opponent stands by the pocket you are shooting for.
 
dooziexx said:
Heres another excuse.. Someone walked in front of my shot or your opponent stands by the pocket you are shooting for.
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If they're standing at the pocket, I'll wait all day long till they move
 
BazookaJoe said:
It's the mental warfare that I love so very much. Sometimes I shoot for the hook when I have a shot. I get the most priceless reactions when I do that. :D
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That's a smart move, sometimes, when you see an obstacle with another ball that makes a run-out difficult. I had a pretty frustrating experience last Sunday in a tournament along these lines:

My opponent was an excellent player: very frequently finishes in the money at the weekly tournaments and wins often. He had an opportunity for a run-out, and not an especially difficult one at that. It was clearly within his capabilities. He chose to play a safety on me that locked me up big-time. There was just no way to get a good hit. I fouled. He took ball in hand and, again, instead of going for the run-out, did it a second time; locked me up even tighter. I fouled again. He took ball in hand again, gave me proper notice, then put me in jail again. I fouled a third time (hit the ball using 4 rails, but scratched) and lost the game.

I, personally, thought that was a chicken-shit way to play. I can see playing safe even if you have a shot if you see trouble ahead that you don't want to deal with. I do it myself. But that wasn't the case here. Pissed me off a little, but it was a successful strategic move, and I gave him credit for it, but he's now slimed with chicken-shit in my mind.
 
My favorite excuse is 'I played bad'. The only person on this planet that can beat me is myself. If i play perfect i win, if i make too many mistakes i lose. Although i really do have a tough time playing somewhere that i am not familiar with the surroundings, and or people. I never use it as an excuse but i honestly do play worse when i am not comfortable in my surroundings.
 
Donald A. Purdy said:
Alex, the player who makes the least mistakes wins. Period!
Don P. :cool:
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Damn, that's brutal Don.
I gagged on the 9 to lose my match this Sunday.
Absolutely dogged it. I guided the cue instead of just letting it slide.
Bonehead, absolute bonehead. :D
 
So gwvavases, the guy beat you with 3 shots, instead of more. Seems like a good choice to me. :) Plus, it pissed you off. Ah, mental warefare. Not only did he win that game, but he laid the foundation for all the future matches you guys play against each other. Very effective. Nasty, but effective. All's fair...

cheers,
jer9ball
 
"My arms were broken and I was playing with a broomstick. Plus it would have helped if I wasn't blind."
 
jer9ball said:
So gwvavases, the guy beat you with 3 shots, instead of more. Seems like a good choice to me. :) Plus, it pissed you off. Ah, mental warefare. Not only did he win that game, but he laid the foundation for all the future matches you guys play against each other. Very effective. Nasty, but effective. All's fair...

cheers,
jer9ball
Click to expand...

I agree: all's fair. That doesn't mean that he isn't a chicken-shit, though! I'll take special delight each time I run out and drop the 9 on that punk.
 
I love it when people complain that I am under-rated. It tells me they are afraid of me.

My main problem lately is getting the speed of the table down before I get eliminated. The tables I practice on are all slow with dead rails and I need at least a half hour of good practice on the tournament tables to re-train myself for the tournament.

Jake
 
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